The warming blanket makes Lynne’s belly look full.
As the first day evolved, Lynne’s color and alertness level improved. She has many different wires, hoses and tubes attached to her, so getting her settled in bed can be challenging. Plus, going to the bathroom is a medical ballet.
The first time Lynne attempted to use the bathroom, it took a while to get her to a seated position. They let her rest there (there was a good amount of pain) before getting her to stand. Upon standing, she quickly felt light-headed, her knees buckled and her eyes rolled up into the back of her head. The 3 nurses gently lowered her back to the bed. Lynne’s eyes fluttered open, “what happened?” “You fainted sweetie,” said Fatmata her lead nurse.
After resting a few minutes, she was able to get up, stay conscious and make it to the bathroom. She even brushed her teeth, which was a welcome relief (for her, not me).
While our hotel wanted to charge us $9.99 for wi-fi, the hospital provides it for free. I was able to set up our iPad so she could watch movies via Netflix. Last night, she watched a documentary called “The Spirit of the Marathon” which was about people training for the Chicago marathon. She would watch, doze, watch again, doze, but loved the movie. “This surgery is like a marathon,” she said at one point.
She was able to sleep in 1-3 hour chunks, waking when the staff came to check her condition and doing her medical apparatus polka to get from the bed to the bathroom. She moved much better, no fainting, though the pain and soreness are omnipresent.
For those of you looking for the spousal update, here’s what I can offer. My bed was a chair that magically turned into something that looked like a 1/2-wide twin bed. Like many other multi-purpose devices (blender/food processor ; can opener/scalpel ; shotgun/baby rattle) my sleeping device was a jack of all trades, yet a master of none. I slept and we’ll leave it at that. There is a shower in the room, so that’s a bonus.
It’s a chair. It’s a bed. Sort of.
We woke up around 6 a.m. for a linen change and a visit from Dr. Ashikari. He changed the dressing and was very happy with how things were progressing. Dr. Salzberg came in later and did the same. Everyone seems very happy with the immediate outcome of the surgery.
